The discussion below is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
An aspect of the present invention relates to a bulkhead seal for sealing the gap between a bulkhead and the inner wall of a cargo hold, e.g., of a ship.
Many cargo ships for transporting bulk cargo have a single loading area which can be divided into different sections by removable partition walls, generally referred to as bulkheads. An example of such a removable bulkhead system is disclosed in WO 98/51562. The removable bulkheads can for example be provided with recesses or channels in their side ends which are slid over support structures, or pontoon supports, on the wall of the cargo hold. This way, the cargo hold can be compartmented and be used for different types of bulk load or a combination of bulk cargo and other types of cargo.
In order to prevent leakage and/or cross contamination of bulk load at either side of a bulkhead, any gap between the bulkheads and the adjacent ship walls must be sealed. Hitherto, this is tried to be done by filling the gaps, e.g., with a rubber and by using self adhesive tapes, which is elaborate and often not effective.